Support for gas and oil strings



June 25, 1963 J. s. TAYLOR 3,094,852

SUPPORT FOR GAS AND OIL STRINGS Filed July 13, 1960 James S. Evy/0rINVEN TOR.

ite Sates The present invention relates to supports for gas and oil wellstrings, and more particularly to gas and oil well equipment comprisingvertically disposed strings of tubular members screw-threadedlyinterengaged in end-to-end relationship and supported against rotationso that members may be added to or removed from the string withoutrotating the remainder of the string.

In the past, gas and oil well equipment comprising tubular members suchas drill pipe and tubing has been handled in and out of the well by useof toothed, tapered slips in a tapered bowl of a spider or rotary table.These tubular members are screw threaded at both ends and are assembledand disassembled from long strings by holding the lower members in fixedposition and rotating the uppermost member about its axis to screw it orunscrew it. The slips, however, do not prevent the rotation of theremainder of the string. Hence, it is a common practice to try to holdthe lower portion of the string stationary by grasping it in a largewrench or tongs and fixing the position of the tongs while rotating theuppermost joint. Such an operation requires one man to handle the bottomtongs and two other men to handle the upper tongs and the catline orother device for rotating the uppermost joint. It is a time-consumingand often frustrating operation and is quite costly in terms of labor.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide gas andoil well equipment that will obviate the above and other difiicultiesand disadvantages heretofore encountered in this art.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of suchequipment that will be relatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture,easy to operate, and rugged and durable in use.

Other objects will become apparent from a consideration of the followingdescription, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, inwhich:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the upper end of a string of tubularmembers according to the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary elevational view of the interengagement of theparts of the present invention;

FIGURE 3 is a view showing the attachment of the splines of the presentinvention;

FIGURE 4 is a view showing a modified form of the present invention; and

FIGURE 5 is a view showing a further modification of the presentinvention.

Referring now to the drawing in greater detail, there is shown a stringindicated generally at 1, the string being comprised of tubular membershung vertically in a Well, and in the present instance they are drillpipe joints. Each individual section or joint 3 is screw-threaded atboth ends as at 5, a collar 7 being afiixed to the upper end to providea stop for the lower end of the next joint up.

Another collar 9 is fixedly secured to the exterior of each joint 3 asubstantial distance from both ends thereof but nearer the upper endthan the lower end. Each collar 9 has a plurality of ribs 11 integraltherewith and extending downwardly.

Each collar 9 is comprised of a pair of halves 13 of hemicylindricalcontour. Each half 13 carries one rib 1*1 centrally thereof. Each half13 has a hole 15 through its rib 11, and the halves are secured togetherabout the joint so as completely to encircle the joint, by means ofwelds 17 filling holes :15 and welds 19 entirely about the upper edge ofboth halves 13. 'It will of course be under- 3,994,852 Patented June 25,1963 stood that halves 13 could be thirds or quarters or the like,depending on the desired number of ribs 11.

Removably associated with the ribs assembly is a pair of separablesections 21 which when together have recesses 23 for receiving ribs 11.Separable sections 21 when together have a non-circular outercross-sectional contour, which is rectangular in the embodiment of FIG-URE 1.

The intended function of sections 21 is that they seat in the recess ofa conventional kelly block of the usual rotary table. Alternatively, asshown in FIGURE 4, sections 27 may be provided which are generally roundbut have external keys so as to fit into a conventional slip bowl 29which in turn fits into the kelly block recess of a rotary table. Stillfurther, as shown in FIGURE 5, sections 31 may be provided of onlyquarter circular extent, each provided with a key and half a recess 23and each adapted to fit into a slip bowl in place of a conventionalslip. 'In these latter instances, it will be noted that the keys of theseparable sections assure that those sections have a non-circular outercross-sectional contour.

Ribs ll have a peculiar shape that fits them particularly well for theirintended function. At their ends remote from upper collar 7, that is, attheir lower ends, ribs 11 terminate in points 33 having oblique surfaces35 on either side thereof and which terminates in surfaces 67 parallelto the axis of the assembly, the surfaces 37 in turn terminating infurther surfaces 39' which meet upwardly to define the uppermost extentof the recesses be tween the ribs. This structure of the ribs issignificant because the recesses 23 of separable sections 211. and theportion on the interior of the separable sections between recesses 23are complementary to the ribs and the recesses 23 are complementary tothe ribs and the recesses between the ribs, respectively, of the centralassembly. Thus, the portions on the interior of the separable sectionsbetween recesses 23 terminate upwardly in points 41 from which extend oneither side oblique surfaces 43 terminating in surfaces 45 parallel tothe axis of the assembly, which in turn terminate in further obliquesurfaces 47 coming in turn terminate in further oblique surfaces 47coming to a lowermost point at the lowermost portion of recess% 23 andat the line of separation between separable sections 291.

In operation, with the separable sections of the slip bowl seated in thekelly block recess of a rotary table and the table locked, the separablesections and the string of joints are moved relative to each other untilthe ribs enter into the central recess of the separable sections. Nomatter what the angular orientation of the separable sections and theribs relative to each other, the oblique surfaces 35, 39, 43- and 47will contact each other and cam the string about until the ribs are justaligned with the recesses of the separable sections. In fully seatedposition, when ribs 11 fully fill recesses 23, surfaces 87 and 4-5 onthe ribs and separable sections, respectively, will also be engaged toprevent rotation of the ribs and separable sections relative to eachother. It will be appreciated that if surfaces 37 and 45 are notpresent, and all the interengaging surfaces were oblique, torsionbetween the string and its support could cause the string to ride up andtwist by a camming action; but with surfaces 37 and 45 parallel to theaxis of the assembly, relative rotation is prevented and such cammingaction cannot occur. It is thereafter possible freely and easily to addor subtract joints from the string by screwing them on or oif.

Accordingly, it will be appreciated that all of the initially recitedobjects of the present invention have been achieved.

It is to be understood that the appended claim is to "a a be accorded arange of equivalents commensurate in scope with the advance made overthe prior art.

What is claimed is:

In gas and oil well equipment, an elongated tubular member, and a collarencircling and fixedly secured to the exterior of the member asubstantial distance from both ends of the member, the member having auniformly cylindrical outer contour of substantially the same diameterfor a substantial distance on both sides of the collar, the collarconsisting of a plurality of identical elements encompassing the member,the elements together defining a horizontal circular upper edge of thecollar, the elements abutting each other along vertical edges ofsubstantial length parallel to the axis of the member, each elementhaving a downwardly extending rib of an extent peripherally of saidmember substantially less than the peripheral extent of the upper edgeof the element, the side edges of each element defining the ribconverging downward from the lower ends of said vertical edges, eachelei ment having an opening therethrough disposed a sub stantialdistance below the associated upper edge of the element at a lower levelthan the lower ends of said vertical edges and spaced a substantialdistance from both side edges of the rib, each element being welded tosaid member along said upper edge and within said opening, but said sideedges defining the rib and said vertical edges away fromv saidhorizontal edge being free from weld metal.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

